Winter's Story
by Comettail of the NightWings
Summary: Why him? He was no Darkstalker. Darkstalker was the sort of dragon who haunted people's dreams. Darkstalker was the sort of dragon who would "destroy the land." Just before Winter fell asleep, a dark thought popped into his head. "Suppose I am the dragon this prophecy is talking about. Would Moon and Kinkajou have to do the same thing to me that they did to Darkstalker?"
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A New Beginning

Winter was much more powerful than most dragons. Sure, he was a five-year-old dragonet, but he was an IceWing, and the cousin of the queen, no less. So Winter would normally live in the Ice Kingdom, but now that he'd been offered a job with scavengers, he was living with the Talons of Peace camp.

The camp was expanding. Riptide had let him put up a scavenger sanctuary, and Winter had already found a couple of the little guys. He had started studying them, and it was really cool. Yes, it was science, but he thought of it less as learning and more as having fun. Plus, it was easier not to think about Moon when he was doing something he enjoyed.

Winter shook his head. _Don't think about Moon!_ He thought firmly to himself. _Even if you're thinking about how you shouldn't be thinking about Moon._

A small squeaking noise startled him. He turned, and there was a scavenger right there, only about two feet away from him. He'd It looked to be female, with a wild mane of dark curly hair. She was smaller than the any of the others Winter had seen, but she had an air of cleverness that the larger scavengers didn't have.

"She would be perfect for the sanctuary," Winter said to himself, in a whisper, so as not to startle the little creature. He crept toward her and scooped the scavenger up in his talons. She didn't struggle; in fact, she seemed genuinely interested in Winter. Her big eyes were unblinking. It was almost creepy.

Winter set the scavenger on his back. He lifted off the ground, gently flapping his wings. He flew slower than usual, trying not to knock her off. Besides, there was no need to rush. The sanctuary wasn't far from here.

"BBBLUURRPLE!" cried the scavenger, pointing to the ground far below and clinging tighter to Winter's scales. She seemed almost scared. But was it even possible for scavengers to get scared? Did they have all the same emotions as dragons did? Winter had wondered this many a time, but he'd never tested it.

He landed at the doors of the sanctuary. Winter opened a scavenger-sized door for his new friend to go into. Seeing how agreeable she was earlier, it was a surprise to him when the scavenger planted her feet on the ground, crossed her arms, and gave him a defiant glare.

"Go on," said Winter, giving her a shove towards the door. But the scavenger grabbed his talon, and quick as can be, darted up his arm and seated herself on his shoulder. Winter sighed. She wasn't going to budge. "All right, clingy, you win," he said to the scavenger, who gave a triumphant squeak.

And just like that, a bright pink head popped out of the bushes nearby."Ooh, CLINGY? Is that the scavenger's name?" said the dragon, pulling herself out of the shrub and plopping down on the ground to sit next to Winter.

"Aargh!" Winter yelped, jumping back. "Oh, it's just you, Kinkajou. No, her name isn't-"

"Hi, Clingy! Hi, Winter!" Kinkajou interrupted as she brushed a stray leaf off of her scales. "I traveled all the way from the rain forest to come see you! It really was a long fly, but boy am I glad I came, because you have this new scavenger pet and, my, he's really cute, isn't he? Such a nice name, Clingy, how creative." the RainWing said chirpily.

Winter frowned. He hadn't planned on the name Clingy, but he knew from experience that it wasn't worth arguing with Kinkajou. And after all, the name did sort of fit.

"Thanks for coming, Kinkajou," he said. "Want to see something awesome?"

Kinkajou smiled. "Sure!" she said. Winter led her into his office room, Clingy still riding on his shoulder. He ruffled through the items in his desk. Finally, he found what he was looking for: a piece of paper showing the results of a recent scavenger intelligence test.

"You have an OFFICE? Wow! So cool," Kinkajou squealed, bouncing into the room Winter showed her the paper, and she gasped."I had no idea! Scavengers are really smart. Like way smart. But not as smart as dragons, though. Do they understand our language, too?"

Winter smiled. It was this side of Kinkajou that made them friends. Nobody else had seen what he did in the scavengers, up until now. "Unfortunately, no," he told her. "But they do seem to have their own language. They can understand each other."

"Shurbb," agreed Clingy.

The two dragons started playing with the scavengers, and they did so for hours. It seemed like only a few minutes, though. Soon, it was almost night, and Kinkajou couldn't stay any longer. "Bye, Winter!" the RainWing called as she took off. "Thanks for inviting me!"

"I didn't invite you! You just came!" he called back. "But, still... thanks for coming!" He smiled, watching her until she was completely out of sight. He heard a loud noise from behind him, and he turned. There, cuddled together, were the scavengers, all of them fast asleep and snoring.

Winter smiled. They were so cute. He headed towards his room and climbed into bed. He thought about Kinkajou's visit. She'd thought he was smart. It wasn't that often that he got to be the smart one. Moon would have been so impressed. Normally, that was kind of Qibli's thing.

 _Why do you keep thinking about Moon and Qibli?_ _They're behind you now. This is your life now._ A voice whispered from inside his head. His last thought before he fell asleep was, _th_ _is is your new beginning._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A Terrible Start

Winter woke the next morning to a squeaking noise. At first, he thought it was Qibli and his awful snoring, but then he remembered that he wasn't at Jade Mountain anymore. The strangest thing was that he couldn't see what was making the noise.

"Blliner!" said a voice in a commanding tone. "Skrup!" Then, Winter felt warm paws on his head. He batted them away, and a small object plunked into his lap. It was his new scavenger, Clingy. Her hair was a mess, and she was wearing a robe made of a blue fabric that was strangely familiar.

Winter frowned and made a face. "You know, this isn't the best way to be woken up," he grumbled. He looked to his window, where the sun hadn't even peeked out yet. But that wasn't the worst part. The curtains had large holes cut in them that JUST HAPPENED to match exactly the design of Clingy's robes. "Clingy! Those were new!" Winter scolded her angrily. "How did you even get it here?" The scavenger gave Winter puppy-dog eyes and pointed to the door.

Annoyed, he followed Clingy to the entrance of the scavengers' room. The door was open. Of course! Winter felt so stupid. He must have forgotten to close it. "Pree, Blliner?" squeaked Clingy innocently. Winter couldn't help seeing her expression as a smirk.

Winter nodded absently, only half listening. He was thinking. Clingy had called him "Blinner." It was a word that sounded an awful lot like his own name. Had she heard Kinkajou calling him that yesterday, and just repeated it? And more importantly, did this mean scavengers understood the dragon language after all? As much as he would have preferred to go back to bed, he forced himself to stay awake. Winter had to mark down this data now. Otherwise, he would probably forget it.

A few hours later, while Winter was writing out a new test, a growl came from behind him. He turned quickly, teeth bared, ready to fight. But after looking, he realized with a relieved sigh that it was just the scavengers, rubbing their stomachs. Oh! It was past lunchtime, and Winter hadn't even given them breakfast yet.

He must be the worst guardian ever. Too busy thinking about his old friends to take care of his new ones. He really needed to take better care of the scavengers.

Winter ran this through his head as he went to the kitchen and pulled out a piece of raw meat. With a quick swipe of his serrated claws sliced it into pieces, then distributed it between the six scavengers. He also gave each of them a thin stick. He'd noticed they liked to skewer their meat.

Oops. It was then that Winter remembered from back at Jade Academy, when he'd given a scavenger named Bandit a piece of raw meat, that he'd refused. Winter couldn't roast meat, though. He was an IceWing and had frostbreath instead of flames.

Maybe he could get Riptide to breathe fire on the meat, he thought. Oh, that's right. SeaWings couldn't breathe fire either! How frustrating. There must have been someone nearby in the Talons of Peace camp who had fire breath and could help him...

Winter lost his train of thought when he noticed what the scavengers were doing. Clingy started chatting with another scavenger (Winter still hadn't named this one) and then they began rubbing their sticks together. Odd. What were they doing?

Soon, though, his confusion cleared when a spark appeared on the sticks. They had made a fire! The scavengers placed the sticks that were on fire on the ground. Now they had nothing to skewer their meat with. Oh well. They didn't seem to care, because they each toasted their meat happily and began to eat it.

Cool. Winter hadn't known that they were so resourceful. Maybe the scavengers were smarter than the dragons had thought. Maybe Kinkajou had been wrong, and they WERE as smart as dragons. He would love to be the one who told her that news.

"Kibbeps Blinner," Clingy chirped to the unnamed scavenger, pointing to Winter. It was uncanny, really, how much it sounded like she was saying his name."Blinner prrefy pfrrey, kibbebs milly sib klippsey karble," said Clingy's friend sternly. He went off on a lecture, only stopping to take breaths.

Like Starflight, Winter recalled. Ha, maybe the scavenger should meet Starflight! They would be best friends.

Would Moon have found that joke funny? He thought it was, but Winter had a kind of twisted sense of humor. Hmm. She might have thought it was funny if Qibli had said it. She thought everything Qibli said was funny.

 _Stop! Stop thinking about her! It doesn't matter what Moon thinks,_ Winter told himself. _The scavengers are what matters now. Not Moon. Not jokes. Moon is behind you now, right? Your new beginning?_

 _Hmph. Your new beginning was supposed to be good for you. Instead, it's been a terrible start._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Prophecy

Winter's dreams that night were riddled with nightmares. In the first one, Qibli had proposed to Moon and she had told him yes. In the second, Darkstalker was back and he wanted to kill Winter for being a descendant of Prince Arctic. In another, a crowd of angry dragons demanded his scavengers for their lunches.

After that, he woke in a cold sweat. He got out of bed and splashed water onto his face. It was just a dream, he reminded himself. But he still checked to see that the scavengers were safe. Not that he believed in a stupid dream or anything like that.

Of course, they were all safe. Each was in their place, a few of them snoring. Winter couldn't help but smile. They were so cute. Glancing at the sky, Winter decided it was too early to wake them, so he went back to his room. It took a while, but he eventually fell back into an uncomfortable sleep.

 _Qibli and Moon were married and they had three little dragonets running around their feet. They looked strangely like Sunny in the way that all of them had golden scales, gray-green eyes and a perfectly normal tail. Moon didn't even notice Winter standing there. Heartbroken, Winter made his way to the forest, deciding to look for scavengers._

 _A bush ruffled behind him, and he turned. It wasn't a scavenger; it was a dragonet. One of Moon and Qibli's. It was the smallest of the three. One of his wings bulged out awkwardly._

 _"Winter, listen," the dragonet said urgently. "I'm Sandcrawler, and-"_

 _"You're Moon and Qibli's dragonet," he said, unable to keep the anger, jealousy, and bite out of his voice. Sandcrawler nodded solemnly. "Yes," he said, "but that isn't important. This is a dream. I visited you."_

 _Sandcrawler held up a sapphire. It was a dreamvisitor. "How did you get that?" Winter whispered. The dragonet shook his head. "No time for explanations. What's important is that Mommy gave a prophecy."_

 _Again? "What's it say?" Winter asked, worried. Sandcrawler looked satisfied, as if he'd wanted Winter to ask that question. The little dragonet pulled a scroll from under his golden wing. That was why his wing had looked so odd, Winter realized. Sandcrawler began to read the scroll in a loud, self-confident voice._

 _"Beware the dragon born of ice_

 _Whose teeth and talons will slice_

 _Through the scales of night and sand._

 _He will destroy the land._

 _If you don't give him what he wants_

 _Many dreams he will haunt._

 _Helpless dragons he will taunt._

 _Beware the dragon born of ice."_

 _Sandcrawler finished with a sigh, tucking the scroll back under his wing. He gave Winter a significant look. Winter shivered. This couldn't be good._

 _Little Sandcrawler sighed again. "I'm really sorry, Winter. But Mommy thinks the prophecy is about you."_

 _Tears sprang to Winter's eyes. It was one thing for Moon to prefer Qibli to him, and another for her to think of him as a dragon who hurts others. Is that what Moon thought he was? A murderer? A bully?_

 _Sandcrawler looked down at his talons. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I really am. Mommy just wanted me to tell you, so I just-" Winter felt a stab of guilt. He must have been glaring at the dragonet or something. "It's okay." He told Sandcrawler. "I know it isn't your fault. I'm just hurt, that's all."_

 _"You know," Winter said, "You aren't such a bad dragonet. Maybe that's one good thing that came out of Moon and Qibli's-" he choked on the last word. Sandcrawler didn't seem to notice. He smiled. "Thanks."_

 _As Sandcrawler turned to leave, Winter stopped him. "Wait," he said. "I have a question." Sandcrawler tilted his head, as if to say he was listening. "I thought... to use a dreamvisitor, you have to have seen the dragon you visit before you do." Sandcrawler smiled. "You may not have seen me," he replied vaguely, "But I have certainly seen you."_

 _Without another word, the dragonet flapped his wings and flew up into the sky. "Wait!" Winter called. "WAIT!" But Sandcrawler just turned his head and said, "Next time!" He waved one talon. Winter watched helplessly as the dragonet disappeared into the clouds._

 _Winter sighed. There was nothing to do now but to leave. He was in a dream and would probably wake up soon anyway. But before he could even turn, a small but heavy object plunked out of the sky and hit him hard on the snout. "OW!" he roared, clawing at the burning pain on his snout. "Who did that?" he bellowed._

 _But when he looked, there was no one there. Winter looked every which way, but there was nobody in sight. Confused, he looked down. There was a small, star-shaped blue sapphire lying there on the ground._

 _It was the dreamvisitor._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A Dark Thought

Winter awoke the next morning with the dreamvisitor clutched in his talons. He sighed, remembering the events that had taken place. Moon had thought the prophecy was about him. Why him? Why not his murderous sister, Icicle? She seemed the obvious choice. Or perhaps his cousin Snowfall, a typical IceWing bully, who was queen now. She seemed a pretty likely candidate also.

Whoever it was about, it couldn't be him... could it?

He decided to find out. Winter fiddled with the dreamvisitor, poking it with a claw. How did this thing work? "HELLO? Can you hear me?" He felt silly talking to an inanimate object, but- wait! Was it just his imagination or did the sapphire quiver in his talons?

Suddenly, the world faded to black. Winter panicked, waving his arms frantically. He had the strangest sensation that he was falling. Was he in danger?

 _"HEY!" a voice said, startling him. A forest appeared suddenly, and he was near where he'd been when he was dreamvisited the night be_ fore. _Looking up, Winter saw the scrawny figure of Moon and Qibli's dragonet, Sandcrawler, above him._

 _The little dragonet's brow creased. "Winter?" Sandcrawler asked, sounded perplexed and almost scared. "Why are you here?"_

 _Winter stood up and dusted himself off. "I wanted to know... if maybe you could tell me more about the prophecy," he said, unable to hide the curiosity in his voice._

 _Sandcrawler shuddered. "Mommy said she saw a dragon in a prophecy. She said he was covered in blood, but he had to be... to be you. You were haunting me and my siblings using the dreamvisitor. To bring justice on her for... for not..." The dragonet didn't have to finish the sentence for Winter to know what he meant._

 _"For not marrying me," Winter finished._

 _Sandcrawler nodded, rubbing his back legs together nervously._

 _Winter was deeply hurt. "Moon was my FRIEND!" he cried, more to himself than to the dragonet. "Now she thinks I'm some sort of monster! Do I look like a monster to you?!"_

 _The little dragonet began to scribble in the dirt with one claw. "Well, n-no..." he stuttered unconvincingly as a response._

 _"AARGH!" Winter yelled, pounding on the rocks below him. It didn't matter how much his talons hurt because Moon hated him, Qibli hated him, and even this dragonet was scared of him! Why couldn't other dragons see him in a good way? He was a nice dragon! NOT the subject of some little dragon's bad dreams._

As soon as Winter thought the word "dreams," his surroundings disappeared from around him. Shucks! Sandcrawler must have woken up. Again, Winter was shrouded in darkness for five long seconds. Then, he found himself in his room again, still holding the star-shaped sapphire.

It was still nighttime, so Winter crawled back to bed once again, trying unsuccessfully to fall back asleep.

As he stared into the dark room, he thought. Why him? He was no Darkstalker. _Darkstalker_ was the sort of dragon who haunted people's dreams. _Darkstalker_ was the sort of dragon who would "destroy the land". But even if Darkstalker had been entirely ice dragon, he was gone now. He'd been transformed into a new dragon by Moon and Kinkajou, so the prophecy couldn't be about him.

Just before Winter fell asleep, a dark thought popped into his head. _Suppose I am the dragon this prophecy is talking about. Would Moon and Kinkajou have to do the same thing to me as they did to Darkstalker?_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Price of Knowledge

 **SANDCRAWLER**

Meanwhile, Sandcrawler was in the rainforest, worrying his head off.

What a horrible word, _meanwhile_ , nothing more than a space filler. But yet, there's something menacing about it; just around the corner, while you're sure you're safe, a snake waits to bite your head off.

The prophecy was going to come true, no doubt about it. Since when had Moon ever been wrong about anything? It was nice having a perfect mom; she never forgot your birthday, always came to sing a lullaby before you went to bed. But at the same time, it was hard to live up to everyone's expectations. _Surely Moon's son is strong, handsome and talented! Oh wait, it's that skinny little mistake who everyone hates._

At least, that's what Sandcrawler guessed dragons might think about him. But of course, _he_ couldn't read minds, so _he_ wouldn't know.

Sandcralwer read through the scroll he had scribbled the prophecy on:

 _Beware the dragon born of ice_

 _Whose teeth and talons will slice_

 _Through the scales of night and sand._

 _He will destroy the land._

 _If you don't give him what he wants_

 _Many dreams he will haunt._

 _Helpless dragons he will taunt._

 _Beware the dragon born of ice._

The prophecies Sandcrawler had heard were majestic and breathtaking. The words of this one, though, were clunky and awkward. It was shorter, too, especially in comparison to the whole "Jade Mountain is falling! Run for your lives!" prophecy. Was this a real prophecy? Had Moon just made the whole thing up.

"Trust me," Sandcrawler's father had said when he mentioned it. "Your mother would never make up something like this. Winter was our friend."

That's what everyone had been saying. Qibli... then Winter, in the dream... he'd even heard Moon muttering it her sleep. But if they were friends, then why would Winter betray them? No matter how many times his parents explained it, Sandcrawler couldn't understand.

Sandcrawler was like that, logical to the max. He couldn't understand anything outside of his comfort zone. His parents insisted that dreams came true; after all, it had worked out perfectly for them! But Sandcrawler was different. He relied on his wits. You never know when you could be betrayed, so the best option was to be wary of everyone and watch your back.

Moon claimed he was "wise beyond his years." For Sandcrawler, his knowledge was more bitter than it was made out to be. If only he were like his siblings, Camel and Desertrunner, playful and carefree. But, that could never be. For the price of knowledge was great.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A Bad Dream

 **WINTER**

 _"Where am I?" Asked Winter._

 _"Where do you think?" Replied a deep voice. Two glowing eyes opened and stared at him from the darkness. It was Darkstalker._

 _Winter found himself surprisingly calm. "How did you find me? How do you know who I am? How do you know who_ you _are?"_

 _"Never you mind about that," Darkstalker whispered. "We aren't here to talk about me. We're here to talk about you and your ghastly little NightWing-Sandwing companion. Come."_

 _Winter was suspicious, but he followed the huge dragon to an underground pond. "What do I do?" Winter asked, but the moment he asked the question he knew the answer._

 _"Ask it a question," Darkstalker said. "Whatever you want to know."_

 _"Will I really become... evil?" Winter whispered, careful not to let Darkstalker overhear._

 _The pond rippled, and Winter saw Sandcrawler on a hospital bed, his wing, though bandaged, still gushing with blood. Beside him, tiny in comparison, Winter saw Clingy's body. Still. Cold._

 _Winter gasped. "I- I did that?" He asked through tears._

 _"I think you know the answer to that," Darkstalker responded._

Winter jumped up from his bed. His cheeks were wet from crying unconsiously. The dream rushed back into his head, and Winter ran to the scavengers' room. Clingy was lying on the ground.

"Wake up," Winter urged. "Please!"

"Bllurble..." Clingy moaned, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Thank goodness," Winter wept, sweeping her up in his talons. "Come on. We won't let that prophecy come true. We can't! We're leaving, and going somewhere far away."

Clingy protested. "Blinner!"

"We have to! It's too dangerous for us here," Winter told her, putting her on his shoulders and shaking out his wings, which were still sore from him sleeping on them. He flew into the air, as high as he could without scaring the scavenger. "We'll find some cave to live in, just the two of us. Whatever we have to do to keep you alive, we'll do it."

 **SANDCRAWLER**

One thing Sandcrawler was good at was racing.

He could feel the wind flying by him, and the prickles between his scales. He was freezing cold. His eyes watered from the pressure. But he never felt quite as free as he did when he flew.

WHAM!

Sandcrawler rammed into another dragon and fell dizzily from the sky. He heard the _crack_ that came from his right wing when he landed on it. He touched it lightly and saw that his talons were sticky with blood. Shaking, he turned his head weakly to look at his wing.

That's when he fainted.

 **WINTER**

Winter was flying, Clingy on his back, when a golden-scaled dragon flew right into him. It hurt, but he wasn't seriously injured. Unfortunately, it looked like the other dragon might not make it.

Winter looked closer and felt his stomach lurch. It was Sandcrawler.

"We ran into Sandcrawler?" Winter panicked, waiting for Clingy's usual conformation, a squeak or "blurble." When it didn't come, he turned to see what was wrong.

Clingy lay on the ground, giving Winter a glassy-eyed stare. "Blinner..." She whispered, and her body went limp. Still. Cold.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Some Terrible News

 **SANDCRAWLER**

Sandcrawler heard voices outside his door. "Please, you have to let me in," Pleaded a voice. "I have to see my scavenger."

 _Winter. What's he doing here?_ It hit Sandcrawler like a brick over the head. _No._ _It couldn't be._ _That dragon- the one I hit- that was Winter?_

"I'm s-sorry, sir," Stuttered another voice. "There are so many p-patients that n-no one's allowed inside b-but the patient's immediate f-f-family."

"I'm the only family that scavenger has," Winter pleaded. "Please, you've got to let me in. Ask Queen Glory, she'll tell you! I need to go in!"

"No can do, IceWing," Rasped a third voice. "Queen Glory's busy. Besides, you don't look like the scavenger's family to me."

"An IceWing, related to a sc-scavenger," The stutterer guffawed. "How gullible do you th-think we are?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go in there," Winter said, determined. The door swung open.

"Don't resist, IceWing!" The hoarse voice yelled. A NightWing appeared in the door, jabbing a spear an inch away from Winter's throat. He seized Winter's talons and dragged him away from the door.

"Stop! You can't do this! Please!" Winter begged, tears welling up in his eyes. He looked up to the sky. "I betrayed my family for Moon, and you took Moon away from me! This scavenger is all I have left! This scavenger is the only thing I have to love, and I won't let you take it away from me!"

Sandcrawler sat up in bed. "Winter!" He screamed. "The dreamvisitor!"

 **WINTER**

Winter looked down at the dreamvisitor in his hand. He whispered who he desired to visit, and to his surprise, it wasn't Sandcrawler. It wasn't even Moon.

It was Qibli.

Qibli's dreams were surprisingly quiet compared to his son's. It was so dark, Winter didn't see him at first. But then, he noticed the SandWing sitting in a corner. His eyes were filled with tears, and here he looked a lot less monstrous than Winter made him in his head. "Winter?" Qibli's voice called out in surprise.

"Yeah," Winter responded. "I just... wanted to say hi."

Qibli caught sight of the dreamvisitor. "How'd you get that? I thought Sandcrawler-"

"He gave it to me," Winter broke in.

Qibli looked down. "I- I've missed you," He admitted.

Winter was silent.

"Now you say you missed me too?" Qibli prompted.

"OK, maybe I missed seeing your annoying face just a little bit."

"A lot."

"OK, a lot. I've missed you, and Turtle, and even Kinkajou and Peril. And... Moon."

Qibli looked startled at Winter's honesty. "Oh, Winter, I never meant for things to get so out of hand!" He blurted. "We let Moon turn us into fools. I'm ashamed of how we fought over her like a couple of dragonets."

"Me too," Winter sighed.

"Remember, before we knew Moon? Just you and me, and your little scavengers-"

"Well, you don't have to worry about them anymore," Winter said darkly.

"What?"

"I found a scavenger. Beautiful thing. Name was Clingy, courtesy of Kinkajou."

"Nice," Qibli grinned.

"She was more than nice. She was wonderful." Winter smiled sadly. "Until I went off flying with her, and had... an accident. We ran into Sandcrawler. I'm not hurt, but Clingy's unconscious. They won't even let me in to see her."

Qibli gasped. "Sandcrawler? Is he hurt?"

Winter hesitated. He didn't want to say anything that would make Qibli angry, but he couldn't lie. "I think he might've sprained his wing..."

"I have to go," Qibli blinked.

"No! Wait!" Winter cried, reaching out, as everything disappeared around him.


End file.
